Apple Vision Pro: The first tests are here
How good are Apple's 3,500 US dollar AR glasses? Shortly before they are delivered to customers, the first portals have published their reviews.
The Apple Vision Pro goes on sale in the USA on Friday. A few selected media outlets have already been able to test the augmented reality glasses in advance. The reviews vary between enthusiasm for the technology and scepticism about the practical benefits. An overview of the experience reports so far.
The Verge: fleeting magic
What is the Vision Pro anyway? Apple wants to position it as a completely new product category. As a "spatial computer". However, Nilay Patel, editor-in-chief of The Verge, sees the Vision Pro primarily as a pair of glasses for virtual (VR) and mixed reality (MR). It is just an attempt to get closer to Tim Cook's goal of augmented reality (AR) - and still a long way off.
Compared to other VR glasses, Patel attests that the Vision Pro has a significant technical advantage. The displays are outstanding. The quality of the passthrough mode also surpasses comparable devices by far - this is the name of the mode in which the glasses reproduce the real environment live on the displays. The gesture control feels like magic the first few times and the integration into Apple's ecosystem is intuitive as usual. For example, the glasses can act as a large external screen for a Mac.
But because the Vision Pro is a VR headset at its core, it comes with the usual compromises. The glasses are heavy and feel that way because almost all the weight is in the front part. The displays are still displays and the cameras are still cameras. They can reproduce reality well, but not flawlessly. The image quality drops in poor light. Depending on the image content, you can see reflections in the lenses.
Although the displays support 99 per cent of the DCI-P3 colour space, this is still only just under half of the colour space of our eyes. Control via eye tracking and gestures is also futuristic, but in practice it becomes tiring over time.
Patel therefore wonders whether the added value is great enough to outweigh the disadvantages. "Is the Vision Pro so good that I'd rather see the world around me through screens than with my own eyes?" The answer: No. As interesting and impressive as the gadget is, "outside" is still better than "inside".
The Wall Street Journal: good cooking computer
Probably the funniest test report to date comes from Joanna Stern. The journalist from the "Wall Street Journal" tried to spend as much time as possible "indoors" in 24 hours. As the battery life is only a good two hours, she usually connected the battery to the power socket.
In addition to normal test applications such as employees working with a Macbook, Stern also tries unusual things. For example, she cooks pasta with sauce and places two virtual timers above the pots. The Vision Pro also proves to be excellent eye protection when chopping onions. However, they seem less suitable as ski goggles.
In conclusion, Stern calls the Vision Pro a typical first-gen product: heavy, poor battery life, still too few apps and a few bugs. But it certainly has potential. At the moment, the device is particularly good as an external monitor for a Mac and as a TV.
CNET: incredible but unfinished
For Scott Stein from "CNET", the Vision Pro is in a class above other VR headsets. He praises the image quality and intuitive operation. He was particularly impressed by the headset as a home cinema and as a "memory machine" for viewing photos and videos.
Stein also talks about the Eyesight feature in his video, which allows other people to see the eyes on the Vision Pro's external display. This looks a little strange - as if through a veil. Nevertheless, the transmission seems to work practically latency-free. The digital avatars called "personas" also still need some work. They are still in the beta stage and imitate real faces. With varying degrees of success.
What is almost completely missing: games. It is possible to connect a controller and play Apple Arcade. But then the Vision Pro is nothing more than a face TV that makes no use of the 3D possibilities. For Scott Stein, this contrasts with the Meta Quest 3, for which there is a huge games library. For much less money.
More reviews and hands-on
My fingerprint often changes so drastically that my MacBook doesn't recognise it anymore. The reason? If I'm not clinging to a monitor or camera, I'm probably clinging to a rockface by the tips of my fingers.